To: Board of Supervisors
From: County Administrative Office
Agenda Section: Departmental
SUBJECT:
title
Project Trellis Funding and Programmatic Changes
end
RECOMMENDATION(S):
Recommendation
That the Board of Supervisors:
1. Approve a spending plan to include $1 million for the County Administrative Office - Economic Development and other programmatic changes as detailed within the staff report for Fiscal Year 2021-22;
2. Approve emergency updates to the Local Equity Program manual that provide payment of Equity Certification and increase income level eligibility requirements;
3. Receive an update from staff on the Request For Proposals (RFP) for a Collective Cannabis Branding, Promoting and Marketing Strategy for Humboldt County;
4. Receive a report from staff on Project Trellis programmatic updates since creation of the program.
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SOURCE OF FUNDING:
Measure S, General Fund (1100), Economic Development Fund (1120)
DISCUSSION:
The Humboldt County cannabis industry is at a critical moment in its history. Cannabis businesses, particularly cultivators, are struggling as they transition from a market which has been illegal for more than 50 years to a heavily regulated, but legal market. The successful transition of cultivators from the previously illicit market is important in Humboldt County as the local economy is critically linked to the success of its own cannabis industry.
To support the cannabis industry your Board previously directed the creation of the Project Trellis program, an advocacy and relief initiative designed to support the cannabis industry during its regulatory transition to the legal market. Federal grants and federally funded programs (like the Small Business Development Center and Small Business Administration) are not available to cannabis businesses. Therefore, Project Trellis was designed to fill this support gap by providing Humboldt County's cannabis community with micro-grant, equity, and marketing ...
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